This invention relates generally to injection molding and more particularily to a heated nozzle having a forward member which is removable for replacement.
Different types of valve and sprue gating for single and multiple cavities such as hot tip gating and edge gating are well known in the art. Previously, different heated nozzles having the appropriate configuration have been required for each type of gating. In fact, the applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,811 which issued May 12, 1987 describes a method facilitating the manufacture of nozzles having different configurations for different types of gating. However, these previous nozzles all had the disadvantage for both the manufacturer and user that an entirely different nozzle had to be made and used for different type of gating. With the increasing number of different gating configurations, this has increased manufacturing and inventory costs considerably. Also, nozzles which became too worn near the gate had to be replaced entirely.